2014/2015 Scapegoat Prediction

[m0ngr31]

Stuart since he'll probably play the most unwarranted minutes.

 

[Skip2myBordyloo]

Mitchell.

 

[InjuredChoker]

gotta be stuart. they aren't planning to play him as 3rd pairing guy.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

Berra, Stuart, Mitchell (as usual), Briere

 

[Hesher]

Stuart and Mitchell.

 

[UncleRisto]

It'll be Stuart but then Mitchell makes a mistake puckhogging.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

The funny thing about Mitchell is that when he's on the 4th line it's actually good for our team if he hogs the puck. Could you imagine Mcleod/Bordeleau/Cliche trying to gain the offensive zone.

 

[henchman21]

The answer to this is Stuart, and it won't matter a single bit how well he plays. He could put up 20 points and play shutdown defense for 21-22 minutes a night and people would still hate him. Now that won't happen, but I don't think he will be terrible.

 

[shadow1]

I don't have to predict anything - it's already Stuart before he's taken a shift.

 

[Avs71]

Once Stuart catches some poor soul crossing the blue line, I think people will change their tune. Look how much rope Wilson had for a few years, mostly because he was a heavy open ice hitter. I'm very excited to see Stuart do the same.

 

[tigervixxxen]

That's my perception too, guys that are "ours" or accepted as get much more leeway than others. If Wilson hadn't been here forever he'd get even harsher treatment. It amazes me how much crap Berra gets and then the same people would have no problem with our goalie prospects getting significant action despite never proving anything either.

 

[Mandeskog]

Dater.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Dater.

Do not attempt to circumvent the profanity filters.

 

[CoachBadkitten]

That's my perception too, guys that are "ours" or accepted as get much more leeway than others. If Wilson hadn't been here forever he'd get even harsher treatment. It amazes me how much crap Berra gets and then the same people would have no problem with our goalie prospects getting significant action despite never proving anything either.

I don't think it's even that; more so what we paid to get these players that make them hated. A goalie prospect we could have brought up for free. Berra we gave a 2nd round pick for, fans aren't going to forget a trade like that. It skews the viewing of the player in question.

 

[cgf]

People rag on Mitchell because he brings it on himself a lot of the times.

It's not that he "doesn't know how to pass" (though that is an area of opportunity for him to try and improve in) but that he doesn't a lot of the time, he'll circle around with it, try and go back near the blue line and attempt a soft, backhanded pass 90% of the time which always ends with it being intercepted or not on target at all and the Avs lose possession of the puck.

I'll also not be forgetting anytime soon the play where he just stopped hustling and lazily skated back to the Bench that allowed the other team to score on the Avs last season...I thought for sure he was going to be riding the bench after that but it didn't happen. It was just a terrible play by him as you could blatantly see the lack of effort in him at that moment.

I used to think this way, but really focus on his passes when he does actually try to make a real pass, they're terribad, like it's surprising someone who passes so poorly can play in the NHL, so a lot of times he Malkin'ing is actually a higher percentage play than him trying to make a tape to tape pass. It was really obvious later in the season when he was forced to pay top 6 and bless heart did he try to pass, he just failed every. single. time.

Anyway I vote Stuart for scapegoat if deserved blame counts as scapegoating for this. Stuart's been horrific and getting worse for years now, and we're going to try saddling EJ with him....

 

[Avs For Life]

Its going to be Stuart. I dont remember anyone being a fan of the trade, he will catch the brunt of it.

 

[bromando]

Gotta be Stuart, Briere, or Berra because we gave up assets to get them. I could see Briere if he plays poorly and PAP clicks with a player in the Habs. I could also see Roy living Briere abs throwing him in the top 6 as first callup which would make fans more annoyed.

If not I would think Stuart as he'll have the more important role and his mistakes will be more noticeable.

If Varly goes down though, it'll for sure be Berra unless he somehow impresses everyone.

 

[Balthazar]

No one should blame Briere. The only reason why he's here is because of PAP's contract. He was a throw in, it's not like the AVS went after him. Him being here = additional 4M of cap space next year. So yeah, I'm happy with that regardless of what he's doing on the ice.

I expect Stuart and Berra to suck and since they are playing an important role and we paid a lot to get them they will be prime targets.

 

[A Shiny Zubat]

Stuart is listed first in the poll, I think everyone agrees with you.

 

[PAZ]

Stuart will most likely be the scapegoat.

For myself, I'm going to say Briere. I just have that feeling when someone gets injured, he's going to be thrown into a top 6 position that he can't handle.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Stuart will most likely be the scapegoat.

For myself, I'm going to say Briere. I just have that feeling when someone gets injured, he's going to be thrown into a top 6 position that he can't handle.

I actually think Briere is going to surprise people in a good way. He was one of Montreal's best players in the playoffs, and his production vs playing time is damn good.

If you read a lot of the reports about Briere, no one could understand why he was getting so little playing time.

Not that he should be a full time top 6 forward, but he is a premier clutch player, and Roy will give him opportunities that he didn't get in Montreal.

Edit... Now Mitchell has a tendency to make his line-mates pretty much disappear, so I do worry about McGinn and Briere playing with him at center ice, but we'll see...

I'd personally like a McGinn - Briere - Talbot 3rd line, and hate the idea of Mitchell at center beyond the 4th line for these reasons.

 

[freeboy]

ok.. Avs are going to win like 2o in a row so this thread has no merit! lol
So... in the spirit of the thread Ill pick... ummm.... Paul Stazny

 

[Balthazar]

If you read a lot of the reports about Briere, no one could understand why he was getting so little playing time.

The consensus on the Habs board was that he's only effective when he's playing center and he really sucks when playing wing. The thing is, they had 3 better centers so they had no room for him other than centering the 4th line.

I think that if he's centering the 3rd line he'll do very well. Roy will have to find a new spot for Mitchell.

I'm a bit afraid that due to our lack of depth on the wings and our surplus of natural 3rd line centers (Mitchell, Hishon, Talbot) Roy will move him on the wings in the top 6 if there's a injury and then he'll suck like he did in Montreal.

 

[cgf]

I too like the idea of a McGinn-Briere-Talbot line. Let Malkin and Winchester play with one of the goons and that's a very nice bottom 6. Plus if/when briere gets hurt that could be a nice spot for Hishon to come up into if McGinn hasn't been called into duty higher up the food chain to fill for an injury there.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I don't really care what Habs fans think of Briere. It wasn't a good year for him and he didn't see much time. I'm not going to consider that a fair opinion. We'll just have to see how it goes here.